Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to computer processing and, more specifically, to techniques for interacting with wearable devices.
Description of the Related Art
Wearable devices, such as smart eyewear and heads-up displays, are designed to enable unobtrusive, constant, and immediate access to information. In general, wearable devices have small form factors that satisfy a variety of consumer requirements pertaining to comfort, aesthetics, and so forth. However, the small form factors typically limit the types of user-friendly interactions that the wearable devices support.
One approach to circumventing the limitations imposed by the small form factor uses supplementary devices in conjunction with the wearable devices. For example, a one-handed keyboard can be configured to wirelessly communicate with smart eyewear. However, relying on such supplementary devices undermines one of the primary advantages of wearable devices—unobtrusive access to information without the inconvenience associated with carrying or tethering to any device.
Another approach to bypassing the limitations imposed by the small form factor employs voice-recognition techniques. However, while voice input may be useful in some situations, in other situations voice input is not an acceptable input mechanism. For example, in various situations, people often find a need or desire to relay private information to wearable devices while in the presence of others.
Yet another approach to interacting with wearable devices leverages existing touch pads included in the wearable devices to enable limited tactile interactions that can be reliably supported despite the small form factor. For example, through a series of gestures, input can be conveyed to smart eyewear via a side touch pad. However, because the size of the touch pads included in wearable devices is limited, many common input tasks, such as text entry, are challenging. For example, placing a standard QWERTY keyboard on the touch pad in a manner that enables access to all of the characters is usually impractical.
As the foregoing illustrates, what is needed in the art are more effective techniques for interacting with wearable devices.